Tuesday, February 21, 2017

It is high irony, that so many third wave feminists defend Islamic culture SO vehemently, when Islamic culture is literally THE single most anti-feminist, and MOST oppressive to women, on the entire planet. That isn't even just opinion. That is fact. That does not mean ALL Muslims act that way or feel that way, surely. But it is the ONLY culture/religion on Earth (these days, Christianity and Judaism used to be about as bad), that often demands women cover entire bodies, and either their hair, or their entire FACE, because, you know, seeing pretty women is just too distracting and tempting to good Muslim men, right?

The "Western World" obviously has a lot of it's own problems, and one of them is how females ARE often still treated/mistreated. I don't think anyone with true intelligence and compassion would really bother trying to argue that fact. BUT, when these feminists put SO much effort into demonizing Straight White Men (the devil who causes ALL evil on the planet, obviously), but in the same breath defends Muslim culture from any and all even CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms, because "how dare we attack those poor people", it's laughable.

I've known Muslims who are good people, and even some who do NOT subscribe to the often very Misogynistic ways of the Quran. But I'm sure that THOSE people would likely be inclined to agree, that the way many Islamic countries treat women is abhorrent. For third wave feminists to outright IGNORE that, while constantly railing against their OWN western culture that, with a handful of admittedly SHITTY exceptions, in point of fact in MOST ways that matter, treat them like 100% equals to men, is not only absurd, it comes off as incredibly disingenuous to their own alleged cause.

You don't see them over in Middle Eastern and African Islamic countries, protesting for women's human rights that are ACTUALLY being abused and oppressed, on a daily basis. No, instead you see "Free the Nipple" rallies, and "Gender Pay Gap" protests, and online boycotts or petitions based around the silliest, most shallow shit, like female video game characters, or casting in Hollywood films.

I am not going to sit here and argue or denigrate those issues. But I AM going to call blatant bullshit and hypocrisy, on how many of them constantly attack Straight White Western Men, as in ANY of them, no matter whether they EVER personally "oppress" women or not, no matter whether they are genuinely good people or not (which by the way is sexist bigotry in and of itself), yet they rarely if ever call bullshit on Islamic issues that genuinely harm and mistreat women, worldwide.

Let's just propose, for the sake of argument, that a new Right Wing movement rose up in the US, where white Christian women started completely covering their bodies, head to toe, and wore the equivalent or Hijabs or even Burkas, because in THEIR view, it is indecent and sinful for women to expose anything more than their faces, or even just their eyes. Guess what? Western third wave feminists would have a field day with that. They would attack it, immediately, calling those women "traitors" to feminism and womankind, and attacking the white Christian men who OBVIOUSLY are forcing these poor, oppressed female victims, to cover their natural beauty.

I could almost guarantee that would be the basic reaction to such a phenomenon. And yet, that is exactly how women in many Islamic countries are treat, and worse, on a day to day basis. On the one hand, yes, I can understand the point of defending a woman's right to CHOOSE to dress how she wants, including wearing a headscarf, or even mask/veil. But on the OTHER hand, as a egalitarian and humanist myself, I will not just sit by and pretend that the religious/cultural reasons BEHIND the use of those things on women, is innocent or something worth protecting.

I am not religious, but I say these things being part Middle Eastern myself. And I'm sorry, but forcing women to cover their natural beauty, their skin, their hair, even their FACES, is ridiculous and and ignorant as it gets. Even full-body nakedness, even covering up so-called "indecent", "sinful" private parts. The fear and demonization of the human body, especially the female body, has NEVER had anything to do with God or spirituality, at all. It was wrong when Christians and Jews treated women and the human body that way, and it's STILL wrong that Muslims treat women and the human body that way. And the TRUE irony, is that many of these same feminists will be the FIRST in line to agree and attack western white Christians for that kind of treatment towards nudity and women in general. But again, usually not a peep when it comes to other cultures "we have no business talking about".

Except that humanitarian causes and human rights issues, ARE everyone's business. And practices that harm or actively oppress people (as in ACTUALLY oppress), SHOULD be railed against, and stopped. If women want to wear Hijabs and Burkas...whatever. But to me, it is a "SIN" to COVER human beauty. There is no "Virtue" in making women hide themselves, so as not to "tempt" men, or "distract" them with their natural femininity. As a "straight" male myself, I can in fact attest to beautiful females catching my attention and "distracting" me. It happens. That's Nature. But why should we avoid it, or condemn or oppress it?

Regardless, the Hijab and Burka are only symptoms of the larger issue, on a cultural level that many Islamic countries treat their women as lesser humans, who in some cases aren't allowed to vote, or drive, or own their own property, etc. They are "owned" by the men in their lives, basically, just as it was in Medieval Christian Europe. As an aside, the vast majority of PRE-Christian European cultures did not treat women that way. For that matter, many PRE-Muslim Middle Eastern cultures didn't treat women that way either. If you actually do the research, beyond religious/historical cover-ups and demonizations, MOST "Pagan" cultures were MUCH more egalitarian, in fact. But that's a story for another day.

I don't deny that there are most certainly ways in which women in the West, even in America, are NOT always treated as Full Equals to men. There ARE still sadly some ways in which women are treated "lesser" or "different", and that sucks, and needs to change. There ARE feminist causes worth fighting for in the West. But so much of what third wave feminism parades around these days, stinks of manufactured outrage, IE FINDING things to be mad and indignant about, and a LOT of it also stinks of (to coin their own terms) "White Female Privilege". Yes, that does exist. In fact, straight up "Female Privilege" exists.

There are MANY circumstances under which women in the West have stark ADVANTAGES over men as well, such as when it comes to how harshly the law treats them for the same crimes as men. Or how social programs often treat women versus men. Or how workplaces often make allowances for pregnant/parent women, but not men. Or domestic violence (or violence in general) towards men not being taken anywhere near as seriously as against women.Or how men are required by law to pay child support and sometimes even alimony but women are not. Or how the vast majority of child custody cases go in favor of women over men, even if the men are the more capable parent. These things are not some silly, whiny "Men's Rights Activist" talking points, to be justifiably dismissed and scorned, as they so often are. No, these are REAL issues and disparities that exist, for women OVER men, in American society alone, and they are just some examples. There are in fact MANY ways in which women have distinct and even stark advantages over men, in Western/American society, that often get ignored or pushed aside, as if they don't exist or don't matter.

But the POINT in all of this is, Hypocrisy. Something I have always loathed and railed against. I hate hypocrites the same as I hate liars, because to me, BOTH are one and the same, BOTH are forms of Dishonesty, which stinks of Dishonor and Cowardice. And I hate Hypocrites and Liars, regardless of gender, creed, ethnicity, economic status, or anything else. A Liar is a Liar, and a Hypocrite is a Hypocrite, no matter what. And I see extreme hypocrisy in the way many Western/American third wave feminists act TOWARDS the West/America, versus how they often act (or rather, don't act) towards OTHER parts of the world that ACTUALLY treat women badly, without exception, on a daily basis. There is something extremely disingenuous, and spoiled, and even sickening, about hearing Western women talk about stupid shit like "Mansplaining" and "Manspreading", as if these are end of the world issues, while not paying even token lip-service to women who are ACTUALLY oppressed, beaten, and otherwise mistreated every day of their lives in other countries.

There are feminist issues here in the West that are worth discussing and fighting for. But those issues are not unique to the West, and you can't just care about Human Rights issues here at home, but NOT care about them elsewhere. You don't get to be a Fair Weather Humanitarian. You either are, or you aren't. You either care, or you don't. And NOT caring, about the outright oppression women in many Islamic cultures go through, and defending them against attacks or criticism from "Evil White Men" in the West, because somehow we're "oppressing" the oppressors by pointing out bullshit, is just that: Bullshit.

Quite frankly, in my opinion, while it is also a topic for another day, ALL of the Monotheistic, "One God, One Truth" religions of the world, who profess to be "God's Only Chosen", and claim that THEY know the only "Real Truth", and that everyone ELSE who believes differently is an evil Heathen condemned to Eternal Damnation, have done profoundly more harm than good. That isn't even up for debate, that isn't a subjective opinion, it's objective fact. All you have to do is pick up a history book, or turn on the news, to see the Truth of that. And that is not an attack on religious people, it is simply the sad, terrifying truth of the existence of such religions in the human world. There has not been a greater cause of massive destruction, suffering, and death in this world, in the entirety of human history, than these monotheistic religions. Don't get me wrong, there WAS war and strife and atrocity before they existed. But those things have escalated by an incredible degree SINCE they took a foothold in the world over the last 2000+ years. There are many GOOD people of ANY of those such religions, many who do NOT agree with many of the messages, attitudes or interpretations, that have LEAD to such horror and atrocity. But I think history and the current state of the world, attest more than any one person or group ever could, to the fact that the genuinely GOOD and PEACEFUL super-religious of the world, have NOT been the voices most heard, have NOT had the most influence over world events. And that is sad, because if Islam truly WERE, universally, a "Religion of Peace" as it is often claimed to be, or if ALL Christians, universally, actually acted "Christ-Like", the world would be a MUCH better, cleaner, friendlier and less terrifying place right now.

The Face of Hypocrisy, is that you don't get to choose to attack ONE group for a dangerous and destructive view or behavior, but NOT others who share similar views and behaviors. Many third wave feminists DO attack Christianity about these kinds of things. A LOT in fact. But, many of those same people, as stated, sometimes outright REFUSE to attack Islam over the EXACT same things. Because that's "Not White Culture", so we don't have a "right" to comment on it or interfere in it. Even though Christianity literally exists in almost every nation on Earth, in some regions outright dominating populations of entirely non-white humans. Even though in many cases, the way Islam abuses human rights or spreads hateful outlooks, is even WORSE than what modern Christianity does. It is every BIT as bad as Medieval Christianity was. The key difference being, that modern "radical" Muslims, have weapons and technologies and means to do greater harm on a greater scale. That isn't to say that Christianity isn't ALSO still doing harm, for indeed, it still holds firm influence over many political and military agendas in many Western countries, not the least of which being the United States. In fact there are people in power in American government as I type this, who would love nothing more than to provoke what they, just like the "Radical Islamists", feel would be a "Holy War", worldwide, between Christian and Muslim nations, with all of the rest of us, and all life on Earth, caught in the crossfire. That isn't hyperbole, that is a nightmare reality that I have READ many claim to be "waiting for" or even WISHING for.

You have to care about ALL atrocity, ALL abuse, not just some of it. So, to self-proclaimed "Social Justice Warriors", if you truly want to BE Warriors, then carry yourselves with semblance of Honor, and don't just pick and choose which issues, real or manufactured, that you wish to protest in the comfort of your own country. Go out there and fight the good fight for people who ACTUALLY need your help, and ACTUALLY need saving. Ultimately, an issue such as the way Islamic countries and culture treat women, or even the issue of radical terrorism, it really isn't possible to be changed by outsiders. It can ONLY be changed by the people THEMSELVES, condemning and ultimately fighting to CHANGE those things. The West cannot beat Islamic terrorism, certainly not with weapons and wars. The only way that is ever going to stop, is if MUSLIMS as a whole, take a VERY public stand against it themselves, and make it clear that killing in the name of their culture and religion, is NOT acceptable. Because, as many SJW's and third wave feminists like to point out, "Silence Is Often Approval", inaction is often the same as condoning atrocity. But while Western feminists perhaps CAN'T directly go into these countries and cultures and MAKE change themselves, as outsiders, they CAN direct their energies towards changing attitudes and viewpoints, and inspiring THOSE people to take up the cause and make the change THEMSELVES.